![[.:: wanderlust Julia ::.]](http://bp2.blogger.com/__Dm0qUHGV0A/SD32NKsLbZI/AAAAAAAAABI/7_9i_IOorA0/S1600-R/wanderlust.jpg)
Unfortunately no pictures until probably Easter break, but my Michaelmas winter trip route:
Cambridge, UK ->
London, UK ->
Frankfurt, Germany ->
Munich, Germany ->
Innsbruck, Austria ->
Milan, Italy ->
Modena, Italy ->
Pisa, Italy ->
Florence, Italy ->
Rome, Italy ->
Vatican City, Vatican City ->
Venice, Italy ->
Bavaria, Germany ->
Dasing, Germany ->
Giessen, Germany
Frankfurt, Germany ->
Marrakech, Morocco ->
Todra Gorge, High Atlas Mountains, Morocco ->
Tinerhir, Morocco ->
Erfoud, Morocco ->
Merzouga, Morocco ->
Sahara Desert, Morocco, Algerian border ->
Risani, Morocco ->
Marrakech, Morocco ->
Cologne, Germany ->
Sofia, Bulgaria ->
Bansko, Bulgaria ->
Sofia, Bulgaria ->
London, UK ->
Barcelona, Spain ->
Cambridge, UK
*^____^*
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A lovely little dinner in Innsbruck
It was dim, foggy, cold and snow flurry-ing ouside, but we decided to brave it in search of dinner. The streets were completely deserted, no restaurant was in sight. We walked down the street, peering at the side streets for places that looked open and offered food, but no luck. The only stores we passed were antique shops. Finally one side street showed a pizza restaurant-cafe that was open.
As we hurried towards it across the street, we noticed a place standing next to us with a dim light on and doors opening to heavy dark velvet curtains, a menu posted outside on the wall. Curious to this place, we decided to visit it first before the pizza place.
The curtains led to another door that was closed, and we opened it to find ourselves in the middle of a quiet bar with a large group of people drinking at a table. Er it didn't look quite like a restaurant, so we paused in confusion for a second and decided to leave, when one of the guys in the table group yelled, Hello hello! Come eat, great food! I guess we looked like we didn't know German. Honestly I thought he was kind of drunk, and/or making fun of us, but he insisted this was a restaurant too so we stepped in and sat at a table.
The bar was very nicely and tastefully decorated with different wood panelling, ornaments, paintings, flowers, and lights. The menu was incomprehensible, I tried asking the bartender/owner but he wasn't responsive to me, then the guy offered to translate for me. He invited me to sit down at his table and introduced the other people around him; his name was Michael. I began to think that maybe he was a nice guy after all, and it was just his Austrian accent and voice that made him sound mocking when he spoke English. So he described the standard Austrian dishes on the menu, and I ended up ordering: one beer, two waters, onion soup, breaded chicken breast with french fries, and Austrian dumpling-type trio set.
The food was all cooked by the barternder/owner's wife in the kitchen. The couple was old in age, but still active. Michael assured me her cooking was superb; it seemed like most of the people who came to this place were regulars and their friends. The food took a while to come because she was also cooking the group table's, so while we waited, we ate the peanuts, walnuts, tangerines, and chocolate that were in a big bowl on our table. Heh we spent the whole time wondering if those cost money, but we ate them anyway.
The food came one by one, it was delicious! Oh my god the onion soup is to die for. In a hot stone pot, thick cheese crust on top, hot soup below with onions and soft bread inside, mhmmmmm. The chicken breasts were lightly breaded and very juicy and marinated inside. The dumplings were heavy on the stomach, but very Austrian/Germany type I know, and very good too -- I just can't eat more than 1.5 of them. We were so stuffed, and then Michael told me he had ordered dessert for us because we had to try it. We waited for quite a while, and we started wondering if I had heard Michael correctly, but dessert indeed came. Three plates of hot crepe with ice creams wrapped inside and drizzled in hot chocolate. Amazingness. I told him it was too much, we were already so full! He laughed and replied that there's a separate stomach for dessert. I was surprised he knew this English idiom, and regardless, he was absolutely right, the three of finished each of our own dessert completely mhmmmmmmm.
We wondered what the final bill would be, if there were extra charges, etc. that foreigners like to place on unsuspecting tourists... but it came out to only 25 Euros for the three of us! Desserts on Michael. Amazingness. We thanked Michael and the owners profusely for their hospitality. What a wonderful meal. We trekked back to our hotel in a bigger snowstorm, but bellies satisfied and happy.
Yum yum :)
As we hurried towards it across the street, we noticed a place standing next to us with a dim light on and doors opening to heavy dark velvet curtains, a menu posted outside on the wall. Curious to this place, we decided to visit it first before the pizza place.
The curtains led to another door that was closed, and we opened it to find ourselves in the middle of a quiet bar with a large group of people drinking at a table. Er it didn't look quite like a restaurant, so we paused in confusion for a second and decided to leave, when one of the guys in the table group yelled, Hello hello! Come eat, great food! I guess we looked like we didn't know German. Honestly I thought he was kind of drunk, and/or making fun of us, but he insisted this was a restaurant too so we stepped in and sat at a table.
The bar was very nicely and tastefully decorated with different wood panelling, ornaments, paintings, flowers, and lights. The menu was incomprehensible, I tried asking the bartender/owner but he wasn't responsive to me, then the guy offered to translate for me. He invited me to sit down at his table and introduced the other people around him; his name was Michael. I began to think that maybe he was a nice guy after all, and it was just his Austrian accent and voice that made him sound mocking when he spoke English. So he described the standard Austrian dishes on the menu, and I ended up ordering: one beer, two waters, onion soup, breaded chicken breast with french fries, and Austrian dumpling-type trio set.
The food was all cooked by the barternder/owner's wife in the kitchen. The couple was old in age, but still active. Michael assured me her cooking was superb; it seemed like most of the people who came to this place were regulars and their friends. The food took a while to come because she was also cooking the group table's, so while we waited, we ate the peanuts, walnuts, tangerines, and chocolate that were in a big bowl on our table. Heh we spent the whole time wondering if those cost money, but we ate them anyway.
The food came one by one, it was delicious! Oh my god the onion soup is to die for. In a hot stone pot, thick cheese crust on top, hot soup below with onions and soft bread inside, mhmmmmm. The chicken breasts were lightly breaded and very juicy and marinated inside. The dumplings were heavy on the stomach, but very Austrian/Germany type I know, and very good too -- I just can't eat more than 1.5 of them. We were so stuffed, and then Michael told me he had ordered dessert for us because we had to try it. We waited for quite a while, and we started wondering if I had heard Michael correctly, but dessert indeed came. Three plates of hot crepe with ice creams wrapped inside and drizzled in hot chocolate. Amazingness. I told him it was too much, we were already so full! He laughed and replied that there's a separate stomach for dessert. I was surprised he knew this English idiom, and regardless, he was absolutely right, the three of finished each of our own dessert completely mhmmmmmmm.
We wondered what the final bill would be, if there were extra charges, etc. that foreigners like to place on unsuspecting tourists... but it came out to only 25 Euros for the three of us! Desserts on Michael. Amazingness. We thanked Michael and the owners profusely for their hospitality. What a wonderful meal. We trekked back to our hotel in a bigger snowstorm, but bellies satisfied and happy.
Yum yum :)
Watching TV
[I wish I had an Iphone so I could blog while traveling, but I can only scribble labouriously on paper my random thoughts/stories to transcribe later to blog.]
I like watching TV in different countries even when I have no idea what they're saying. I like watching what their local programs are like, the commercials, what the local news are -- it's an interesting piece of insight into the country's culture. Some sort of recurring theme or specialty always exists in a country's television. Austria likes to depict its lovely alpine landscapes and music; Italy shows either hot girls or leery old men. The US has lots of car commercials while Europe has lots of tourism ads from other countries. The television also proves how similar and globalized humans are. I watched American human tetris, British Weakest Link, British Family Feud (but more intelligent), several Italian versions of Deal or No Deal (with much hotter Italian girls), Italian Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. And not to mention the countless spin-offs of American Idol.
I like watching TV in different countries even when I have no idea what they're saying. I like watching what their local programs are like, the commercials, what the local news are -- it's an interesting piece of insight into the country's culture. Some sort of recurring theme or specialty always exists in a country's television. Austria likes to depict its lovely alpine landscapes and music; Italy shows either hot girls or leery old men. The US has lots of car commercials while Europe has lots of tourism ads from other countries. The television also proves how similar and globalized humans are. I watched American human tetris, British Weakest Link, British Family Feud (but more intelligent), several Italian versions of Deal or No Deal (with much hotter Italian girls), Italian Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. And not to mention the countless spin-offs of American Idol.
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